| Traditional Corsairs won by 39
runs
Traditional Corsairs 181-4
Bash 53*
Sheraz 34
Vimal 4-0-18-2
Norfolk & Chance 142 all out (15.4 overs)
Paul James 49 Mo 4-0-36-2
Bash 3.4-0-27-3
Teenage Prodigy Bash Leaves
Norfolk & Chance With Exactly That By
Ajaz Rashid, Traditional Corsairs
It seeemed that no play may be possible due to the downpours during the
afternoon and an end to the unbeaten start to the season for the Corsairs,
the first miracle of the evening was the fact that we got a game and the
second was that Nimo won the toss, for a change, and the Corsairs
batted first.
When play eventually commenced, Nimo dropped himself down the order and
with Faisal still en route, Ajaz (23) and Sheraz (34) opened the innings
and without any problems put on a half century opening stand inside 7
overs before both were out to consecutive balls going for the big hit
straight. With momentum for the innings set Farooq and Bash came to
middle and continued in the same vain. On a night of stunning
debuts, the performance of 15 year old Bash (53 no) will live long in the
memory of the 2 spectators and 1 dog who, along with the 2 teams, had the
privilege to witness possibly the birth of a cricketing talent that has
the potential to smash all VPCCL records. From the moment he strode
out, almost running, to the crease and nonchalantly hit his first ball for
6 - the N & C team were left feeling like they had been hit by a
tornado in full destructive glory. He biffed and bashed the N &
C attack to all parts with embarrasing ease - driving, pulling and cutting
shots to the boundary at will on his way to a blistering half century. The
talent scouts are already queing up from Perth to Old Trafford to sign up
this young genius who when relating it to his batting, has the an
incredibly apt name!
Farooq (28) kept Bash company and played very well taking balls off middle
stump and despatching them to the boundary and causing a great deal of
torment for the N & C bowling attack, which was run ragged. The
innings was completed with a couple Emran (11) big hits before he
sacrificed himself for the team going for another big one in the final
over and by Mo (9 n.o.), who also demonstrated his quality with a couple
of glorious drives for four. At the end of the innings, the
Corsairs had compiled 180 off 16 overs, their biggest to date in the VPCCL
and without Nimo or Faisal having to raise their bats in anger, a great
performance in which a new star may have been born. However,
the Corsairs were left scratching their heads as to why the N&C
captain had held back what was obviously his best bowler, Fahim, who did
not bowl a full complement of overs - this may have been the match losing
decision. Although rumours were spreading like wildfire between
If the Corsairs thought the game was over, the N & C opening batsmen
were undaunted by the task ahead (run rate required of over 11 an over)
with James in particular looking to match Bash's earlier performance and
playing an excellent, bludgeoning innings that at one stage had N & C
well ahead of the required rate, and with the team in the pavilion feeling
very confident of victory. Following the early dismissal of Fahim
(8), James carried the fight to the Corsairs with good support from Vimal
(19) before he fell for 49, comprehensively beaten for pace and bowled by
Mo, another who made a stunning debut and dismissed both openers. Mo
(2-37 from 4 overs) opened the bowling with Faisal (0-39 from 3) at the
other end, who was unlucky to run into a man possesed like James was and
did not deserve to be sledged by his own team mates with comments like
'you should have let him bat rather than bowl' and 'Go Larry, Go Larree,
Go Larree'
Even though N&C were up with the run rate, wickets continued to fall
at regular intervals with Hermes (16) and Amit (9) doing their best to
keep the momentum going. However Bash (3-37 from 3.4 overs) and
Sheraz (1-24 from 3 overs) followed up their splendid batting efforts by
hauling the game back into the Corsairs domain and removing the middle
order between them. This was backed up by Mo throwing himself around
the outfield with 100% commitment to save boundaries and flinging the ball
in at rocket like speed to secure run outs, quality stuff.
After this clutch of wickets in the middle order and the run rate
rocketing, the pressure was starting to the tell on the N&C skipper
Stan who told Nimo to slow down the bowling due to the light (huh?!!! I
hear you say and that's what I said!!!) and all of a sudden a bubble
appeared above Nimo's head (the third miracle of the day) and inside of
the bubble were the words 'you mean from 25mph to 24mph?'.
This deliberate ploy of trying to confuse the opposition did not deter
Nimo from the task at hand and he continued to rotate his bowlers without
bringing Faisal back on. Emran joined Bash at the end, ensuring any
sniff that N&C had was eliminated with 0-11 off 2 overs. In the
end, after an entertaining impression of Devon Malcolm in his batting
prime by Paul Singh, who was caught behind for a hugely entertaining 0
during which he gave his captain pelters for not backing up on a quick
single, if looks could kill......the innings and match closed when he was
caught behind to give Bash his 3rd wicket, and N & C valiantly fell
short with a final total of 142 all out.
On a great night for the Corsairs with stunning debuts from Bash, Mo,
Farooq and Sheraz - the sheer energy and youthful vibrance that was
abounding from the 15 year old stood out and will take some beating by the
rest of the Corsairs during the course of the season. No doubt his
uncle Nimo treated him to a happy meal on the journey home as a
reward. Hats off also to the N & C team for an excellent
game played in excellent spirit and especially to James for his great
innings which inspired belief in his team mates. As the
Corsairs bandwagon steamrollers everything in it's path, competition for
places is hotting up and stars from around the world (i.e. Walthamstow)
are queuing to join the club that it is rumoured is coveted by Malcolm
Glazer to add as to his collection of sporting bastions, at this rate he
may struggle to raise the funds to be able to afford it.
What a game, littered with great performances on both sides and all after
it looked like no play may be possible.
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